Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The Otterbein University baseball team began Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play on Saturday with a pair of losses to Ohio Northern, falling 8-2 in game before dropping game two, 11-3.

Otterbein (13-5 overall) saw its four-game win streak snapped and will now switch gears to non-conference play against Wittenberg this coming Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Fishbaugh Field.

Game 1

The Cardinals surrendered a 1-0 lead to ONU after one inning of action, before senior Taylor Hutchison smacked his first home run of the year over the right field fence in the fourth inning to tie the game at one run apiece.

Both teams plated a run in the fifth inning, including senior Mark Walton, who returned to starting catching duty in game one, blasting his first homer of the season onto the tennis courts in left field.

Otterbein struggled to manufacture any offense from that point forward, as the Cards recorded just one hit over the final four innings. ONU conversely put together a three-run seventh and ninth inning to boost its lead to six runs.

Junior pitcher Robert Kemer posted a no-decision after tossing six innings, allowing six hits and two runs while walking three and striking out a pair. Senior pitcher Terrell Dorsey came on in relief of Kemer to begin the seventh inning, giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits in an inning and a third of work.

Freshman Ben Beachy also saw his 16-game hitting streak end, as he was hitless in the game with one walk.

Game 2

Neither team managed to push a run across the plate until the top half of the third inning when ONU tallied three hits and scored one run to take the lead. Otterbein matched the Polar Bears in the bottom half of the fourth inning as senior Jake Simmerman and junior Stephan Hernon registered back-to-back hits, with Hernon driving in Simmerman on a double to left center.

ONU stringed together four hits and scored three runs to begin the fifth inning, regaining the lead at 4-1. The Cards again battled back and cut their deficit to 4-3 on a two out, two-run home run by senior Tyler Kent.

The two teams locked down defensively the next two innings, as they combined for just three hits. ONU led the eighth inning off with five runs on four hits, inflating its lead to 9-3 by the time the Cards recorded the third out.

The Polar Bears would score two more runs in the ninth, with the lone Cardinal hit of the final two innings coming off the bat of pinch-hitter Pat Birrer with two outs in the last half inning. Sophomore pitcher Craig Prince picked up his first loss of the year after tossing five innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits and three walks.